Thursday, March 29, 2007

Well, I went 59 minutes thinking I wouldn't have to say it, but just based on how it ended I'm going to say WOW! Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse already had stated prior to this episode that people were either going to love it or hate it, but that Nikki and Paulo would go down as iconic characters on LOST. I will say that I did enjoy it as a stand-alone murder mystery episode. But as an episode of LOST in the grand scheme of things? .....eh, I dunno. There were a FEW tidbits thrown into the episode that might be good to know for the future and I'll mention them. I also loved revisiting some old characters and stories from another point-of-view and I'll discuss some of my favorite moments with that. But I'll be honest, there doesn't really seem like MUCH to discuss from last night's episode. And due to this, I have a back-up plan! There were lots of goodies from the producers that they dished out in this week's podcast and also in interviews with EW.com. I will share highlights from these interviews in the 2nd half of the blog. Never a dull moment in LOST THEORIZATION Land! So, here we go!

Exposé Recap

Okay, so this episode was all about learning "who the hell" Nikki and Paulo are and what they've been up to. Last week I discussed the possibility that Desmond's changing of the past may have impacted WHO actually boarded the plane. Since we haven't seen Rose and Bernard this season, a logical theory that came about was that somehow the changing of past events caused Nikki and Paulo to board the plane instead of Rose and Bernard. Was a pretty darn cool theory. But I had my reservations with how they could pull it off. So, in that sense, this was a better way to go. So what did we learn? Nikki and Paulo murdered the director of a TV show called"Exposé" for a bag Diamonds worth 8 Million Dollars. More "BAD PEOPLE" that were on Oceanic Flight 815. We trace their 80-something days on the island from their point of view as they are hunting for the diamonds. We revisit some Old Set pieces and some old characters and learn some interesting things. It appears that in present Island time...Nikki and Paulo have been murdered and Sawyer, Charlie, Sun and Hurley team up to solve the mystery all leading to the shocking final minutes of the episode. Here's what went down:

First and foremost - Billie Dee Williams was a star of Exposé!!! That's right, fulfilling Star Wars fans' dreams everywhere (including the creators of LOST), Lando Calrissian was on LOST.

Speaking of Exposé, it was the ol' show within a show where they could make fun of the TV Show LOST. (Often was done on "The O.C." so I've been told....not that I ever watched!) Things were said by Nikki like "I'm a guest star. Guest stars always die on these shows" and Hurley being a huge fan and finding out who the Big bad boss wasn't revealed until Season 4. Probably referencing that we may not find out about Jacob until next season.

Loved seeing Boone and Shannon again. Loved seeing the CRASH again. Although the super-imposed shots of Nikki amongst the crash survivors looked pretty bad. But the concept was really cool. And I loved how Boone came up to Nikki asking for a Pen. If you recall, immediately after the crash - Jack sent Boone to look for pens to pierce Rose's lung (due to her being unconscious and not breathing). Arzt also returned, which is funny. Arzt was another character that was introduced out of nowhere as one of the survivors. So we also got to see what he was up to for most of his time on the island. He was discovering new species in order to become the next Darwin. We also see Arzt running past Nikki and Paulo saying that Boone stole all of the water. Another season 1 episode when they were running out of fresh water (this tied into Jack returning from seeing his father and finding the caves with fresh water and the infamous "Live Together Die Alone" speech).

Interesting to see that Nikki and Paulo discovered Eko's plane before Locke and Boone ever set foot there. They were so obsessed with finding the diamonds, that they never even told anyone what they found. They also discovered the Pearl Hatch, which we learn Paulo would return 32 Days prior to the present day. The reason I'm pointing out the days because it impacts what happened IN the Pearl Station. okay....bear with me here...I just did some math. If the crash happened 80 days ago and Paulo was in the hatch 32 days ago....this is DAY 48 on the island. Which happens to coincide with Ana Lucia shooting Shannon and the Tail section survivors meeting up with the main castaways.

Why is this important? It sets the timeline to when Ben and Juliet came to the Pearl Station. This is PRIOR to "Henry/Ben" being captured by Rousseau and brought to the Swan Hatch. Ben unveils his plan to capture Jack, Kate and Sawyer even before Michael went out looking for Walt. He was just returning with Ana Lucia and crew. Yet, he still knew they would use Michael to get what they wanted. Ben also noticed the HATCH Door was open and Juliet mentions that TOM was in there (must've been monitoring Jack, Locke and the Hatchlings). Ben requested for Tom to cover up the Pearl Hatch door with the plane. So, this would tie into Locke and Eko not being able to directly see the Pearl Hatch as easily as Nikki and Paulo did. Although it escapes me how Boone and Locke didn't see it PRIOR to the plane crashing. I guess, because they kept focusing on the plane! Anyway....key point is, the OTHERS were monitoring the survivors and probably were monitoring Ben when he was captured. Did they come in through the Pearl hatch door? or maybe there was another passageway from Othersville there? (remember the underground tunnels from the map?) I'm sure we're still going to see yet another flashback showing us what the OTHERS were up to in those 80 days....it just HAS to happen! and I'm not giving up on it!

Again, Paulo had SEEN the others and never told anyone about it. He KNEW of Ben's Plan to capture Jack, Kate and Sawyer to expose Jack's weakness and get him to perform a surgery and never told anyone. Of course with the Others always referring to people by their last names, he might've been confused. What's up with that anyway???

So Charlie came clean to Sun on abducting her last year in Sawyer's attempt to get all of the guns. These seemed to be resolved much cleaner than we would've hoped. I guess they changed their minds on what they wanted to do with Charlie in the long run. He was looking pretty evil for awhile last season. But now all is well...and it was all resolved by Sun slapping Sawyer. Good times.

We saw Ethan again in the flashbacks being as creepy as ever. Telling Paulo to head inland. Couldn't really tell if he had any ulterior motives by that.

Lots of joking references to the smoke monster killing Nikki and Paulo and also going back and forth on Eko telling Locke "You're Next." Sawyer translated this to mean "EVERYONE" was next. But maybe it was just Nikki and Paulo? So, Nikki gets her spider education from Arzt about these poisonous spiders that petrify you for 8 hours and how once the female bites its prey the faramones (not sure the spelling!) would attract all of the male spiders within minutes. We see this happen when Nikki gets bit. But did anyone notice the SMOKE MONSTER "SOUND" that accompanied the arrival of the spiders? Was this another manifestation of the monster that eventually led to the deaths of Nikki and Paulo? This monster definitely doesn't like people who do bad things! Wait a second, if Nikki and Paulo were only paralyzed temporarily...how are they dead?

Oh right....because the castaways buried them alive! Yeah, I'll admit it...my jaw dropped. But I was thinking when they talked about a GAME CHANGER, they meant something in the larger realm of LOST mythology. Being buried alive hardly would meet the requirements for me! So I'm hoping they were talking about another episode with this "GAME CHANGER" The producers may have hyped this episode up a little too much. But then again, they DID say that people may not like it. It was a good episode, but still it didn't do much for the big picture.

To tie in with the whole Murder Mystery element of the episode, Sawyer was seen reading Agatha Christie's "Evil Under the Sun." I personally prefer "And Then There Were None" but that's just me!

So that's about it. Did I miss anything you wanted to discuss about the episode? Feel free to post comments and we can discuss. But that's pretty much all I got out of it! Farewell Nikki and Paulo! We hardly knew you and we're glad you're gone!

Past and Future Episodes:

The Official Lost Podcast:I know I've promoted it before, but if you haven't started listening to the LOST Podcast yet, you should! You can get it through itunes or even listen on lost.abc.com. Anyway, they had a very interesting Q&A Session at the end of the podcast which everyone might find insightful.

Remember Rousseau's Map in season 1? The one that Sayid stole and tried to translate with Shannon? Well, it had a drawing of a small island off of the larger island. This confirms the producers had always envisioned there being AT LEAST 1 smaller island off of the larger island (aka alcatraz 2.0). It also further clarifies that Rousseau knows a lot about the others.....but is adhering to a "don't bother them, they won't bother me" philosophy.

The producers also shed light on the Original Plan for Michael Emerson's character (Henry/Ben). The original plan was for a 3 episode arch. He was still going to be one of the OTHERS but would've escaped. They say that they specifically recruited Emerson because of his work as a serial killer on "The Practice" so they were HOPING he'd be as good as he was. But just in case, they had a back door. If Emerson wasn't as good as they hoped, the storyline would've been for Henry to to come back and kill a couple castaways before HE was killed off (Ana Lucia and Libby). Another route they could've gone was that he still could've been the leader of the OTHERS even with the 3 episode arch, showing up only in the finale. Where they decided to make some changes was to extend his HATCH visit because he was THAT good with the role. Instead of the LOCKDOWN episode being a Jack/Locke episode where they were locked in the hatch it became a Henry/Locke episode..... (with Jack and Sawyer playing poker). They said even if Emerson didn't work out, they could've replaced his leadership role with someone else and all season 3 stories could've continued. What they're trying to show with this is that even though they change certain character/smaller plots on the show...their overarching story still remains the way they always envisioned. And both of these Answers go to show that they've always had an idea of the direction they were heading with the show.

We won't be continuing the story of Locke and Locke's Dad on the island until Episode 19 (May 2nd). They say we'll see Locke in the meantime, but we won't be focusing on that story. They say it will be really rewarding when we do. They also talked about the BOX as a metaphor to something John could understand (being from a box company) but they also related it to Sayid's Cat, Kate's Horse, Jack's Dad, Yemi...etc.... So the smoke monster, the visions and Locke's Dad all seem to be related.

They also suggested that due to Locke's "Naturalistic" approach to the island has led to his belief that it cured him of paralysis, it may influence the OTHERS to abandon their OTHERSVILLE by the end of the season and live more like the castaways. (WITH the castaways? yet to be seen). Lately the writers have been making us sympathetic towards the Others but Damon and Carlton reminded us about the Hanging of Charlie in Season 1 and the killing of some of the survivors. They said by the end of the season we will be reminded that these guys are NOT GOOD PEOPLE!

Q&A with the Producers from EW.com

I also found some of their answers here pretty enlightening and thought I would share.

Q: When Locke was walking away from the submarine last week, he appeared to be soaking wet, despite the fact that we never saw him get into the water. This has led to speculation among fans that Locke didn't actually blow up the sub, but instead, took it out to sea, submerged it, and blew up the dock — all part of a plan to make it appear the submarine was destroyed. The question is this: Are we supposed to be wondering why John Locke was all wet?

A: Intriguingly, Damon Lindelof says: ''No comment.''

Me: In rewatching this scene, it is very difficult to see the submarine and it appears that just a piece of the DOCK blows up. And LOCKE is CLEARLY soaked when he returns. He also suggests to Ben earlier in the episode that for all Ben knew he might've been a commander in the Navy. It seems like a joke at the time and Ben never says anything in response. But maybe Locke DID do something with the sub and create the illusion that he blew it up. It just didn't seem like there was enough time for anything like this to go down. I'd say there has to be a reason for him being soaked though.

Q: Will we see another Locke flashback story again this season?

A: Lindelof: ''Maybe.''

QIn the final moment of ''The Man From Tallahassee,'' when Locke's eyes went wide and he said ''Dad?'' was Lost paying ironic homage to the classic ''Mom?'' moment in J.J. Abrams' other cult-pop classic, Alias? Despite the fact that the episode was written by former Alias scribes Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner, Lindelof and Cuse say no homage intended.

A: But the moment was supposed to evoke the memory of another Lost moment — specifically, the episode from season 1 when Jack began seeing visions of his father on The Island and went hunting for his coffin, only to discover that the body was missing. Hmmmm...

Q: Are we supposed to be wondering what happened to the corpse of Jack's dad, or is that fact totally irrelevant?

A: Lindelof: ''Yes, you should be wondering about that.''

Q: When will we learn what the hell the ''Purple Sky Event'' actually meant? '

A: 'Toward the end of the season, I suspect,'' says Lindelof.

Sidenote: Speculations continuing on the painting in Ben's house. Who is the woman? fans have narrowed it down to either Juliet or Karen DeGroot. I have no idea who it is, and really don't care at this juncture. But here is some side-by-side comparisons!

Anyway, hopefully that helped satisfy everyone's LOST fix this week. In looking back, it was a good episode and definitely a good one to follow-up the intense Locke episode last week. The most shocking thing for me is that they actually buried Nikki and Paulo alive. And I guess that's what the producers considered the possible "Jump the Shark" moment. It all goes to show that TOO MUCH hype for an episode is never good! But next week sure looks good with the Kate/Juliet face-off!

Which leads me to my next, possible sad piece of information. Things seem to be getting pretty hectic at work here...so you'll have to forgive me if the blog starts getting posted at random times. I know I always say it and I always find a way to get it posted. But, sometimes I get pestering emails asking me where the blog is (you know who you are!) ....all I can say is be patient! I can see worst case scenarios of the blog not getting posted until Thursday night, possibly even Friday morning. Which might work out for some people...since the show airs too late and people don't watch until Thursday! But I will try my best to get it out as early as possible!

That's all folks! See you sometime next week as we continue our non-stop viewing and blogging of LOST!

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Okay, you know you want me to do it! And I think last night's episode was worth it...so here it comes.....WOW! We finally learned how John Locke ended up in a wheelchair. Did the writers meet your expectations for the milestone event? The actual event was shocking in itself, but what we learned in the conversations between Ben and Locke was what held weight in this episode for me. Well, let's not waste time with my intro here. Let's dive into the episode!
The premise of this episode was continuing the Jack Rescue Mission while getting into Locke's head and figuring out what he's been up to since the beginning of his time on the island as well as primarily this season. And naturally, figuring out how he became paralyzed was a pivotal moment too!Operation Rescue Jack ConcludesWell we continue this story right where we left off last week with Jack throwing the football around with Tom and eventually Juliet. Locke puts together a plan that continues to progress his ulterior motives while getting Kate to Jack. Here's what went down:

Re-watching season 1 has been quite a refresher for me. For instance, I forgot that Jack was a piano player. We saw him tickling the ivories out in the Hotel the night before his wedding to Sarah. Here, Kate comes into Jack's Quarters and gets to see his skills first hand. Looks like Kate has a thing for doctors who are musically inclined! Of course this reunion attempt is cut short when Jack informs Kate of the camera watching his every move. That's some kind of house arrest they have Jack under! Football catches and Piano playing in a souped up apartment.

Sayid is captured and guarded by some new OTHERS faces, one that goes by the name of Ryan. Apparently Sayid's only purpose in this episode was to inform Alex that her mother is still alive. Apparently Ben and crew told her she was dead. Rousseau watching her daughter at the end of the episode was a very touching moment, wasn't it?

Big thing that happened in this storyline is Jack preparing to get on the sub with Juliet and leave the island. It created a perfect dynamic for an emotional scene between Jack and Kate. Jack suggests that he's trusting the others because KATE told him to in their only other conversation this season. Really Jack? That's a lame excuse! Jack's entire plan is to get off the island and figure out how to get back to it and rescue everyone. I guess he's not up to speed on the fact that ever since the Electro-magnetic "EVENT" on the island, there is no way to FIND the island after you leave. But was Jack REALLY going to be let loose? Are Michael and Walt really free right now? Or did Ben already know that something would prevent that Sub from leaving? And did Jack really think Ben would keep his word of letting Kate and Sayid go after he left? Guess it doesn't really matter now, since they're all stuck there!

Locke Flashback
Finally, we get a good flashback this season! The flashback takes place 4 years prior to the crash, which means we get to see a BALDING John Locke, unlike many of his other flashbacks which travel way back in time to show how Locke became the faith searching man he is on the island. Here's what happened:

We start off with Locke trying to get extended on disability. Why was he on disability PRIOR to be disabled? Did he claim to have a condition prior to giving up one of his Kidneys? They also suggest he gave up on therapy. We get a glimpse of paperwork that also shows us Locke's Birth date and address. Locke was born in 1956. This makes him 48 on the island. Also shows that we are in California, not, Florida...even though it is suggested that Locke's father is from Tallahassee ("The Man From Tallahassee") Of course that Florida reference helps us with another tidbit we'll bring up in a second!

We meet some people that are in the process of being conned by Locke's father. He is about to marry into a family worth 200 million dollars. The woman's son Peter Talbit, reached out to Locke as he found information going back to an Alias name and a kidney donation by John Locke. After Locke informs his Dad about the situation, Peter winds up dead. I didn't see it, but when Locke is talking to his father in the flower store, a car drives by that looks very similar to a car that has showed up in other encounters.

These encounters? Season 1 - Michael gets hit by a car (same car), Locke is chasing his mother in the parking lot and gets hit by a car (same car), Kate is running from the hospital with her teenage sweetheart, Tom and hits a car (same car). Coincidence? In any other show, I'd say yes. In LOST, I'd say all of the events are connected in some way! Was this car en-route to making another hit and run on Peter? Yeah, probably.

Locke's encounter with his father in the apartment building showed us another bottle of Macutheon Whiskey. Last bottle we saw was in Charles Widmore's office. I guess all these bad daddies like to drink the same Whiskey. Again, showing us that there is a common link between all things LOST.

So the big event...how did it happen? Cooper (I'm sick of calling him Locke's father) pushes John out the window of his apartment 8 stories up. Locke falls flat on his back breaking it. I mean...WOW! Was that fantastic? We knew the moment had to be coming up soon, since the episode was nearing the end.....but it still seemed so unexpected! John's father tried to kill him. Obviously, this means cooper killed Peter. Did he kill the mother too? Not sure if I caught that or not. So, the paralysis John suffered from prior to island life would seem like something that is unrecoverable from. Yet, he was instantaneously cured on the island. More on that in the next section.

Okay, time to possibly tie some more story lines together from season 1. Remember Hurley's first flashback when all the bad stuff kept happening to him after winning the lottery? We see him meeting with his accountant in an office building of some sorts. While he's explaining to the accountant that bad stuff keeps happening to him...a man falls outside the window. Is it possible that this was John Locke? Well we do know that Locke worked for a Paper company that Hurley owned. We know that they were both in California. But some issues with this? Locke falling was 4 years prior to the crash and in an apartment building. Hurley winning the lottery seemed to be not long before the crash and was in an office complex. Still, it seemed too coincidental NOT to mention!

The Mind games of Ben and Locke
Yes, this was the meat of the episode. If you go back a few blogs to when Kate first returned to the beach after her captivity, we even knew then that Locke was suspicious that The Others had contact with the outside world. We couldn't quite understand why he was so interested in this because we know he does NOT want to leave the island. Well, this episode clarified Locke's position and what he is willing to do to make sure he stays on the island.

Why did John Locke bring the C4 with him? He wanted to blow up the submarine to prevent anyone from leaving the island and for anyone getting TO the island.

Ben played Locke to perfection in solving his issue of letting Jack leave the island. As Alex pointed out, he was manipulating Locke into thinking it was HIS idea to blow up the sub. When did his mindgame with Locke start? How did Ben know he was going to show up? Does it go all the way back to Ben's captivity in the Hatch? Does it include the engraving on Eko's stick that led John to the FLAME station and eventually to Othersville, creating a path of destruction along the way? Seems a little far fetched for Ben to have THAT much control over people's intentions. But at the same time, he got what he wanted. No way off the island.....but again IS there a way off the island? Michael and Walt went somewhere on that boat...the submarine was going to go somewhere. What about Desmond's sailboat the others have now...couldn't that boat leave the island? And what about Ben's slip that the submarine is to keep order and to keep up the "illusion" that the recruited OTHERS can leave the island? Something is fishy in the state of LOST Island indeed! And you just can never really believe anything Ben says can you? Even though it's so easy to!

Okay, take a break from my ramblings and look at the artsy decor in Ben's office. I really have nothing to say about it. But I found the picture, so I thought I would just post it. There are some ancient relics of some kind on the wall that might indicate just HOW long the others have been on the island (as Mikhail had suggested...a very very long time). Remember the 4 toed statue from the finale last season? The island is very old. Also, who is the woman in the portrait, and what's up with the picture of that hut? Do we even care?

So one of the big conversations between Locke and Ben was about Ben's knowledge of Locke's paralysis and his curiosity into how Locke was instantaneously cured on the island. As expected Ben in the wheelchair tied in perfectly to this reveal. Locke and possibly Ben are under the belief that Locke has fully embraced the island and has some special bond with it. This somehow explains why Ben is NOT recovering from his surgery quickly. If you recall, Rose also embraced the island and knew her husband was still alive and also that she was cured from Cancer. (more on Rose and Bernard in a bit too!). Are we meant to think there really is some supernatural power on the island is bonding with John? That is the continuous mystery behind LOST, and we probably won't find out the answer until the end of the show!

Locke's take on Ben not recovering is that he and his crew are CHEATING with their communication with the outside world and their use of technology on the island. He clearly thinks he understands the island better than Ben who has been there his entire life. Of course, this may all change when Ben explains to him the nature of the MAGIC BOX.

Ahh yes the Magic Box. The box that will show you what you want to see more than anything else in the world or the thing you fear the most. This ties into the "Get me the Man From Tallahassee" that Ben commands Tom (11/1/2009 Oops...Rewatching and realized it was Richard he told to get him. Hmmmm) to retrieve. If we are to believe this BOX delivered what Locke wanted...what do we see? Well if it his John's father bound and gagged in a closet! Sure, most of us probably saw it coming as Ben so clearly set it up. I think I have even suggested in blogs last season about possibly some of these fathers of the survivors showing up on the island. The Big questions we're left with though are these:

Is Cooper another manifestation of the island? Is this more for us to theorize on for other visions we've seen on the island? Kate's Horse, Jack's Dad etc.... Is this some technology that the DHARMA initiative brought to the island? And during the PURGE the OTHERS killed the DHARMA members and stole their technology? Or the simpler theories....is Locke's father IN on the whole conspiracy? Or did the OTHERS, after learning about Locke's past...hunt down Locke's father and bring him to the island? Lots of ways we can go here.....but Locke's father being on the island brings these possibilities with it:

We know Locke's dad is a conman and so is Sawyer.....and one of the running theories in LOST is that Locke's dad might be the REAL Sawyer. You know the one that conned James Ford's (who we know as sawyer on the island) mother causing his father to kill her and then himself...and causing a life of pain for James....also causing him to become a conman himself while hunting down the REAL sawyer. Wouldn't it be convenient that the island brought him the thing he wanted the most too? A chance to kill the man that ruined his life? Kinda like the thing Hurley wants most is FOOD and it keeps showing up in endless supply? Ahhhh crazy stuff.

Another theory going around...there are lots of people with FATHER issues on LOST island.... Jack, Kate (killed hers), Walt (Michael), Desmond (well Penny's father really), Jin, Sun, Hurley etc...... Perhaps Ben is sympathizing with John because he has father issues himself? BTW...the producers have confirmed that the MAN in charge of the OTHERS is definitely Jacob. We aren't meant to be theorizing on this anymore. So the theory is...what if Jacob is Ben's father? And he has issues with his father also....even though he did suggest that the man in charge is a GREAT man. Oh well....just something to keep tabs on.

On a lighter note...Ben is ALSO reading "A Brief History of Time" which we saw someone reading in episode 7 of this season. Perhaps that's the current BOOK CLUB book that the others are reading? Or maybe it's emphasizing the Black Hole theories out there and the BENDING of Time theories.

Yep, so just as confused as ever, but everyone has to admit that LOST has been on a roll again. Everyone's patience is finally paying off. And if we are meant to believe that this is a 5 season show (with possibly a 6th). Well if that's the case...we've passed the MIDPOINT of the entire story.....so we should be seeing a lot of PAYOFF now. But this IS Lost. There are bound do be some snoozer episodes here and there! I'm on board though!

Okay so next week is a Nikki and Paulo flashback episode! Don't be discouraged. I've heard great things about the episode and the concept of it is a really good one. This is rumored to be the "GAME CHANGER" episode where an event will happen that changes everything we've come to know on the island. I don't want to potentially spoil it for anyone that doesn't want to know, but I'll post a cool theory that's been going around below. You'll just have to highlight the text to read if you want!

First, premise of the episode will fill in the gaps of what Nikki and Paulo have been up to in the 1st 2 seasons where we didn't see them. What does this mean? Expect to see Boone and Shannon...maybe even Ana Lucia and Mr. Eko. Great concept!

Take that even one step further....the theory..Have you noticed how we haven't seen Rose and Bernard ALL of season 3? And you remember how we're meant to believe Desmond actually changed his past? WHAT IF when Desmond went back he changed something that caused Rose and Bernard never to get on the plane? And what if Nikki and Paulo got on the plane instead? Well I like this theory in that it definitely explains why these 2 just showed up! And I like it in the fact that it drives my mind crazy thinking of the possibilities. But I'm skeptical to how they could pull that off without messing up PAST Plotlines too much. I guess we'll see if it's even a possibility!

Alright, I think I went overboard with this blog! Hope you enjoyed! And I'll see you next week for another hopefully high-quality LOST adventure!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Well, my fellow Losties, it would seem LOST has found it's groove for season 3. After a poorly constructed 6 episode arch and 13 week break, we now have seen ANOTHER 6 episodes of the show and I am all giddy with excitement again! Everyone is theorizing again, comments on the blog are growing, and the WOW's are coming regularly! And I must comment about my first LOST HDTV experience.....it deserves a SUPER WOW all by itself! I felt like I was on the beach with them trying to help Jin and Claire catch a bird from the Flock of "Sea Birds!" Anyway, no sense in delaying, let's discuss "Par Avion"

Back at the BeachOkay, so the basic premise of this week's beach storyline had us following Claire, Desmond and Charlie with the help of an increasingly English-Speaking Jin (Hiro still ahead of him on Heroes) and a ridiculously "Non-Accent" English-speaking Sun as they try to catch a tagged "Sea bird" (I think they called it a sea bird just so we wouldn't start making connections to the band Flock of Seagulls) and send an SOS message. In case anyone is wondering what the term Par Avion means, it is a fancy word for "Air-mail." Ahh, those 5th grade history lessons are starting to come back to me now! Anyway, Charlie seems to be getting back to his normal self until Desmond has another flash of him dying attempting to help Claire catch a bird. This causes much argument throughout the episode between Claire and Charlie and Dessie....but all is well in the end and Claire becomes a believer in Desmond's "gift" as well. Other things of interest from this storyline:

Sawyer has a new book! "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. This stuff gets too deep for me. If you really want to find out about the book, join the other crazies writing about it at wikipedia!

The message Claire wrote to attach to the bird was a very nice synopsis of what we've all experienced watching this show for the past 3 seasons. We also get a confirmation that they've been on the island for 80 days now. (Also that it's been 2 weeks since the sky turned purple)

Claire FlashbackFinally we can confirm what we've all been thinking since almost a year ago! But we'll get there in a second. Claire's flashback traces her life immediately following a nasty car accident she had with her mother in the car. Her mother ends up in an indefinite coma. We learn a bit more about Claire's family background and also her previous method of earning a paycheck! Let's dive in!

No sense in delaying - We finally confirm that Christian Shepard (Jack's Dad) is also Claire's father! For once, the producers didn't try to pull a fast one on everyone since it was pretty much figured out during episode 2x20 (Two For the Road - Ana Lucia Flashback) last season. However, I will contest that maybe they tried to confuse us by making the woman we saw in episode 2x20, Lindsey, Claire's AUNT instead of her actual mother. In the end, it's all the same. Jack and Claire are related. Half-Brother and sister. Jack is also UNCLE JACK to Aaron. Christian now has ties to 4 survivors of flight 815 (Jack, Claire, Sawyer, and Ana Lucia). We can bet there are more connections than that too. And we still have to think that somehow he is involved in this whole island mess.

Implications of all of this. Well, Christian went to Australia to find Claire, even though Aunt Lindsey hates him. Jack went to Australia to get Christian, who ended up dying there from what we can only assume was an alcoholic binge (but who knows? maybe we'll find out in future flashbacks that perhaps someone else on the island was involved in his death.) Okay, sum up Mike! My point is, the whole reason that Jack was in Australia was basically because of his half-sister Claire. And then they end up being on the same doomed flight? Ahhhh that's some good writing!

We learn that Claire has no idea of the name of her father. Meaning that it would be difficult for it to come up in a conversation between Jack and Claire that they are related. But guess who on the island probably DOES have that information? Yep, THEM crazy OTHERS! Perhaps they will unveil this information to Jack at an opportune time.

Did I mention pre-pregnant Claire was a GOTH chick? Must've forgotten! She's also worked at a piercing/tatoo parlor. There was some crazy girl in there getting some crazy piercings. I'm gonna go ahead and guess we don't have to remember who she was! But one thing that lost.cubit.net made note of was that there was a tattoo pattern that we got a glimpse of that may have said "HURLEY." But this easily could've been HARLEY (as in Davidson). Thought I'd share the picture anyway and you could see GOTH Claire once again.

Okay, so remember Claire's first flashback episode in season 1? The one where she argues with her boyfriend on having the baby? Remember when she said to him "My Mother will disown me" and he responded "Well she kinda has already" ? Don't worry if you don't remember it, that's why I'm here! Anyway, people are speculating that the writers have done some lousy writing because NOW we learn Claire's mother is in a coma. How could she disown her? Well, I'm sure the writers kept this in mind which is why we got the last scene with Pregnant Blonde Claire talking to her mother about how she avoided telling her about the pregnancy for awhile. As for the "already disowning" part of the season 1 quote.....well we also learn in this scene that Claire and her mother were in a HUGE fight right before this car accident...and that Claire wished her mother was dead. Hmm....doesn't that usually suggest DISOWNING? Sure, this may have not been the original plan for Claire's mother (well, we don't even know if Claire and Jack being related was an original plan), but I think we can say that they covered themselves pretty well with this storyline.

For all you numbers fanatics out there, Claire's accident happened at MILE 108 on the odometer or trip meter.

Operation Rescue Jack - Mission: FIND BARRACKS

Well this section was packed with goodies wasn't it? As predicted, leaving Mikhail alive was a useful tool for the audience to learn more information about the others. While most of it was just reinforcing things that we already kinda knew about, he still let a few tidbits slide. We also see tensions rising between Sayid and Locke (The Magic Stick??? one of many comedic lines!) and suspicions of Locke's intentions are increasing with every episode. Let's see what we can dig up!

We got a good look at the map (well the camera focused on it long enough for other WEBSITES to get a good look!) As you can see, there are several subterranean passages 20 feet deep as well as plumbing and refrigeration at Othersville. Good chance those passages will come in handy in a future episode. (perhaps they are interconnected to other hatches? of course that would defeat the purpose that DHARMA and the OTHERS were 2 separate entities on the island. Oh well, we'll see!)

If you read the comments last week, I went back and forth on Locke's intentions/unintentions of blowing up the Flame Hatch. I suggested that Locke DID know of the C4 and intentionally blew the hatch. Then after re-watching, I realized we never saw him in the basement where the C4 was and started 2nd guessing myself. Of course, this is what we were meant to believe as he started telling Sayid the same thing....only for us all to discover that Locke STOLE some C4 from the Flame Station. So, I'm back with my original theory now! Locke has been through a lot on this island. He is one always looking for purpose in life and thinking the island was going to give him answers. Ever since he realized he was a pawn in an experiment he has been a wounded character yet still looking for answers...and still knows there is something up with his paralysis cure. And it looks from next week, he's going straight to BEN with an Agenda outside of saving Jack.

Okay, so more information about the others. Well, thanks to our Russian translators last week we learned that our Russian guy had been briefed on at least ONE of the survivors, that being Sayid. Apparently, he had information on Kate and Locke as well. We would've found out about his prior connection to Locke but crazy Rousseau cut him off in traditional LOST fashion. If I'm a betting man, Mikhail was about to suggest that the last time he saw Locke, he was in a wheelchair....but what do I know? Mikhail tells us more about the LIST suggesting that people NOT on the LIST (like Kate) would not be able to comprehend anything he had to say. People not on the list are Flawed, Angry, Frightened. We confirmed that BEN is not the almighty "HIM" that the OTHERS all refer to. And we know from a prior episode this season that JACOB has a list! We have yet to meet this Jacob (or so we think). Mikhail also says he was brought to the island via the submarine, but ever since the sky turned purple (an electromagnetic Pulse), their sonar device is not working and it is impossible to navigate from the island. Looks like everyone is stuck there now! That should buy us a few more seasons!

So we witnessed a brand new technology on the island. Locke put it best when he asked "How was I supposed to know they had Sonic Weapon Fences?" These columns surround the entire barracks area and apparently cause Brain Hemorrhages and foaming at the mouth until you're deaders. Farewell Mikhail. You've served your purpose. Locke's "SORRY" was a good time too after he pushed Mikhail into the invisible fence.

So why did Mikhail say "THANK YOU" after Locke pushed him to his death? Why did Klugh ask to be killed? There must be some crazy punishment for failing in the OTHERS' Society. Something to keep tabs on.

After Sayid, Kate, Locke, and Rousseau went all "Survivor meets the A-Team" on the fence (constructed a bridge OVER the fence), we finally get to the lovely town of Othersville. And wait...there's Jack! He's running towards Kate....he's attempting to escape! Come on Jack! You can do it! You can do it!.....woa wait a sec....there's a football! He caught it?? He's throwing it back to......ZEKE err...Tom! That tub of lard is throwing it back! They're having a catch? Jack is doing a touchdown dance? What is going on???? Ahhh yes....another crazy moment in the world of LOST. Are we meant to think Jack is brainwashed? Are we meant to think he's actually having a good time? Or is Jack just putting on an act to get some information and get back to his friends? We'll have to put that off for another episode! But that was a fantastic little twist at the end of the episode.

Whew, that was a lot to cover. I didn't think I'd have too much to discuss, but then again, I never do! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings again. Feel free to share your thoughts as well! I always enjoy your opinions! See you next week as we finally get some dirt on Mr. Locke!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Well, what can I say? As promised, LOST delivered last night! And all I can say is my usual WOW! We learned more about the history of the island's former residents, still with enough ambiguous details to confuse us, yet keep us intrigued! I don't have an exciting speech to give this week as I usually do, so let's just get right to the episode recap!

For any additional lost fix that I can't provide for you, simply go to the official site: lost.abc.com (And that's the last time I'll bring it up! I'll just add to the links on the side of the page, if it isn't already there)

High Stakes Pong:

Well, it's not Beer Pong, which is arguably the most exciting version of any PONG! But our favorite castaways have discovered the Hatch's ping pong table mysteriously hanging out randomly placed in the jungle (not the first randomly placed item we've seen now). And decided to bring it to the beach. What ensues is some more Sawyer, Hurley and Jin comedy. Throw in some Sun and you get some fantastic nicknames added to Sawyer's arsenal! (btw...for any Claire lovers out there who have noticed she only has had maybe 5 lines in 11 episodes, no fear....I think her flashback is next week. And we'll touch more on that at the end of the blog). For now, the fun highlights from the PONG exchange:

Sawyer has been on a fantastic roll with nicknames and 1-liners. Highlight being Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon for Jin and Sun. Grimace for Hurley and Zorro for Paulo equally fantastic! But I believe we all let out a loud laugh when, in the middle of Sawyer's Rant, he spat out at Nikki "Who the Hell are you???" We've all been saying it. We all are displeased with how they were simply inserted as survivors that have been there the whole time. But we're told by the producers that a flashback episode is coming up with Nikki and Paulo that will change our opinions on them forever and make them iconic figures in LOST lore. We'll see.

So I guess we're supposed to be asking more about this supposed HATCH IMPLOSION. With the Hatch Imploded then why are things flying all over the place? We've seen Eko's stick fall from the sky, The hatch door flew all the way to the beach (season 2 finale), Sawyer stepped on a random dart (thanks for anonymous comment last week!), and now the ping pong table is just out in the jungle somewhere. Clearly, Hurley is scared to even discuss how all of this stuff happened and just assumes that it has something to do with the sky turning purple. Clearly, there is more to discover here with the HATCH and the PURPLE Sky.

Sawyer did indeed lose the ping pong match to apparent PING PONG champion Hurley (who became a pro in the Institution) and now cannot use nicknames for a week. Good times! Thank God they added the "for a week" part or else LOST fans would've been jumping ship left and right!

And finally, we must note that Sawyer is definitely struggling with his feelings for Kate. He is worried about her as she ventures to rescue Jack.

Sayid Flashback:

Arguably the least interesting part of tonight's episode. Not because it wasn't interesting to see the after effects of TORTURE (for both the torturer and the torturee) but because it added little to Sayid's interesting background. My theory on this is that while the producers still have much to tell on the ISLAND, they're running out of tales to tell about some of the original character's pasts. It seems like new character flashbacks like Juliet, Desmond, and probably eventually Ben, end up being the more intriguing flashbacks. Anyway, what Sayid's flashback DID do was tie in very well to tonight's storyline. Sayid being the prisoner in the flashback, Russian Eyepatch Baddie being the prisoner on the island. And a tale of FORGIVENESS in both stories symbolized by the CAT. So let's talk about the few interesting tidbits here:

Well obviously the CAT. We see it both here and off the island. A cat that was tortured by kids who seems to flinch at any attempt to pet it. Symbolizing the torturee woman's inability to trust anyone but willingness to forgive. The cat being on the island joins the cast of other animals that have graced our survivors. The BLACK HORSE for Kate, the Boar for Sawyer, and we always like to jokingly throw in the WHITE RABBIT for Jack (episode title, but he saw visions of his Dad). Of course, Sawyer ironically DID come in contact with a White Rabbit this season on Alcatraz 2.0. Anyway, the cat on the island's name was Nadia and seems to be Russian Baddie's pet. And of course we know that Sayid's girl's name (whom he rescued from torture) is also Nadia. Not much to add here except that the CAT reminded Sayid to go easy on his captive for now. Why the cat was there, the horse was there, and all other crazy apparitions on the island, remains unresolved and probably will until the end of the show!

This I find incredibly uninteresting, but apparently in Sayid's restaurant (yep he's under an alias in some non-Iraq country hiding as a cook) there are Dharma type symbols on the wall. Apparently these same symbols were on the HEALER Isaac's wall in Bernard and Rose's flashback last season. If you know what the terms DHARMA Wheel and DHARMAcakra mean, then more power to you! But that's what these are!

Operation Rescue Jack Continues

2nd episode without even seeing Jack. I guess we can assume these episodes were filmed in December when Matthew Fox was heavily promoting WE ARE MARSHALL. There were rumors that Jack was killed off and that's how he was able to be on the mainland showing up on every talk show known to man. Well, when you don't appear in 2 consecutive episodes, that frees up probably 2 or 3 weeks of your life!

Anyway...Sayid, Locke, Kate, and Rousseau are following a Northward Bearing of 305 (just like the stick said). When all hope is almost lost that they are headed in the right direction, they stumble upon another HATCH in the middle of the jungle. And the fun ensues from there! We meet Russian Eyepatch Guy, Sayid gets shot, Locke plays Chess and we get our fix on some DHARMA Goodness!

Okay what's first? Well, maybe Noah's Ark ended up landing on LOST Island because we've seen all kinds of animals there now. Polar Bears, Horses (Black and Brown/White spotted), Cows (bell included), Cats, Boars, Rabbits, Tree Frogs, Did I miss any? Where on earth did they all come from? And why on earth do they need a COW? Wait a sec....didn't Juliet cook Jack a cheeseburger? Hmmmmmm

Anyway after the initial conflict with Eyepatch guy, we learn his name to beMikhail Bakunin and said he is the last living member of the DHARMA Initiative. We later learn that this is a lie. But that everything else he stated is the truth. I'm gonna guess that this was the producers'/writers' way of telling us that they didn't cheat us out of useful information. But still, it's foggy where the lies end and the truth starts. We can try to decipher anyway.

Apparently the HOSTILES (which for now we have to assume are THE OTHERS) have been there longer than the DHARMA Initiative. Which seems to hold true since Ben said he's lived there all of his life. But Mikhail also says he's been there 11 years, meanwhile we know Rousseau has been on the island for 16 years, and she clearly wanted no part of this assault on the FLAME station. Could Rousseau's crew have been involved with the PURGE?

I guess we need to talk about the FLAME and the PURGE since I'm mentioning them! Well, this station is the infamous FLAME station that we've known about ever since the LOCKDOWN episode where Locke saw our favorite blacklight map. This seems to be what may have been DHARMA HEADQUARTERS. As they explored the station, we saw lots and lots of C4 Explosives, another computer with a friendly chess game, a big satellite dish with mainland communication abilities, DHARMA SWAN Merlot, DHARMA Vodka, and lots and lots and lots of DHARMA Manuals including Food Drop Protocols (still being done currently on island as we saw in Lockdown episode) and an Operations Manual, ransacked by Sayid.

We also got a peek at some Russian writing from Mikhail. And I'm sure there are lots of goodies in here. If anyone out there is fluent in Russian and wants to translate, please do and let us know! Otherwise, once I find out, I will post it.

So the PURGE. Apparently prior to the Oceanic Survivors arriving there was a great PURGE where the DHARMA crew was offed by the HOSTILES. There must be more information that we will learn about this PURGE. And I gotta tell you, I'm super excited about seeing it! Will it be a Ben flashback? Or an entire episode of PRE-CRASH events? If this is the season that will unveil the OTHERS....then there's a good bet that we're going to find out before MAY ends!

It's hard to decipher Mikhail's military history in the Soviet Army stationed in Kiev. He says after the Cold War ended he responded to a secret Advertisement "Would you Like to save the world?" Which kinda calls back to Kelvin (another military guy who had nothing to do after the Gulf War) who also says he was saving the world by pressing that button. Maybe Mikhail was giving us information on how DHARMA recruited their personnel. But the ties between The OTHERS and DHARMA remains unclear. Perhaps the military began using the island without knowledge of THE OTHERS, hence calling them HOSTILES. But in the end THE OTHERS won out. Which means our castaways could be in danger of a PURGE as well. Then again, THE OTHERS keep suggesting that they are not the enemy. So there is still some higher power at work here that we have yet to see. AND WHO IS JACOB!!!!?!?!?!?!?? arrrrghhhh! I LOVE THIS SHOW!

We learn the Locke is quite the CHESS player who is able to beat a computer that was supposedly impossible to beat. Although Mikhail may have just been saying this to avoid any mishaps. But When Locke did beat it (did you see the joy he got in winning?) we got to see our DHARMA buddy Marvin Candle once again. And again he had the prosthetic hand (had it in the SWAN video but not the Pearl video). He gives the following instructions:For Mainland Communication enter 38 (unavailable since the sky turned purple, we learn)For Station Up-link enter 32 (huh?)For Sonar Access enter 56 (we finally learn about the cable going underwater was a Sonar/Beacon for the submarine that the Others supposedly have. And how they found Desmond's sailboat)If Hostile Takeover Press 77 (well, we know what happened there!)

Confirmation of ties to the OTHERS for Mikhail was the presence of Miss Klugh who apparently ALSO speaks Russian. It IS possible that this is where WALT was for most of his time with the others, as there was a computer (perhaps station UPLINK is to communicate with other stations). Anyways....Miss Klugh and Mikhail and Sayid/Locke/Kate end up being in a Hostage exchange situation which leads to the death of Klugh. There was a lot of information exchanged in Russian. Again, any fluent Russian speaking people out there please translate!

There was some good comedy with Locke accompanying the explosion of the FLAME station (hmmm guess that's why it's called the FLAME!). Apparently he entered 77 and he "accidentally" blew up the place. But remember when Locke said he had looked at every nook and cranny of the place? (not gonna try and spell those words correctly!) Sayid didn't believe him, but I believe he did. Locke is still trying to sabotage any chance of getting off the island. The island healed the man....and I'm gonna say he intentionally tried to blow up the Flame station. He must've seen the C4 and figured out it was wired to the computer for some reason. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that this isn't the only means of communication with the mainland. There still is another radio tower that Rousseau knows about....where the distress call is still running. Then again, maybe they DID cut off any chances of communication which means that the castaways AND the others are now stuck on the island. And we still need to learn more about this purple sky and what exactly it did on that crazy island! (I think I said that already!)

Last thing we need to bring up is the MAP Sayid discovered in the Operations Manual. Seems to lead them straight to the "BARRACKS" which could be and probably is OTHERSVILLE. Sayid made a risky decision keeping Mikhail alive, but he probably will end up being useful if not to them....then to us getting more information!

I'm sure I missed tons of stuff. Feel free to add anything you've discovered. This is strongly encouraged! As mentioned previously, I said I would discuss Claire. We got another ABC promo where we're going to get find out about a "SHOCKING LINK" between 2 survivors. Well, if it's what we all think it is, then it won't be much of a shock. But I do like the potential of Jack and Claire being half-brothers/sisters. If you recall, we saw Jack's Dad(Christian) in Sydney with Ana Lucia talking to a woman that looked eerily like an older version of Claire. Christian is heard saying that he wants to see his daughter. My guess is that in a Claire flashback next week, we will see this woman again, and it will end up being Claire's mother. May seem obvious, which would lead us to think it's something else. But who else on the island do we know that is actually an Australian Native? Exactly!

Well, another fantastic episode of LOST in the books. Hope everyone enjoyed the episode and the blog. And I hope all of the naysayers are back on board realizing the awesomeness that can only be summed up as LOST.

Another exciting personal event. This episode marks possibly the last episode of LOST that I will have to watch in standard definition! Yes, I am joining the HDTV club! The saddest part of this exciting event is that my TiVo will not record in High Definition...so I'm going to have to start referring to my recording device as a DVR. OH THE HORROR!!!! Seriously, who needs 2 TiVos and a DVR in the house? The good news? If there's ever a night where I have to record 5 things at one time, party at my house!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Seems like there may have been mixed feelings from everyone on last night's episode. Well, I thought this episode was absolutely brilliant (big surprise, right?)! While we may not be scouring over the Internet to hunt down any clues, just getting back to the beach and having an old fashion good time with the original castaways just seemed to be a long overdue relief! And sure there was a little bit of plot movement at the end (come on, you didn't seriously think we'd get knee deep into Operation Rescue Jack this week did you? Just enough to keep the story on pace) The producers keep hyping up episode 11 as a BIG episode where we will learn more about the others, so we knew there had to be some uneventful ones leading up to it. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night! Even had to stop the TiVo a few times just to get the laughter out of my system!

Oh yeah: http://lost.abc.com/ Go there, explore, live it, love it! (eventually, I'm just going to do away with this link!)

Alright, so let's get into it. It's hard to break this one into storylines because all of the castaways kept interacting with each other. But we'll try!

Hurley Flashback

So Hurley's flashback was just adding some more depth to the tragedy behind his character. We learned a bit more about things we heard about before, or just saw. And we got to meet Hurley's Dad. Here's what transpired:

Hurley used to be thin! We found out that his father abandoning him for 17 years and giving him a candy bar as a parting gift was what put Hurley into a downward (or upward if you consider his weight) spiral. The Candy Bar is a Glacier Candy bar which kinda ties into the whole Polar Bear mystery happening on the island.

Oh yeah and Hurley's Dad is CHEECH!

Let's see what else, we finally learn why Randy (Hurley's former boss) was both Hurley's boss at Mr. Cluck's (Season 2 - Everybody Hates Hugo) and Locke's Boss at the Box Company (Season 1 - Walkabout). Sure we had guessed previously. But now we see that once Hurley won the lottery and QUIT Mr. Cluck's, he bought it and then hired Randy. I guess we can assume once the Chicken shack blew up he gave Randy a job at the Box Company. Of course, this all must've transpired pretty quickly, because Hurley was practically on his way to Australia by the end of the episode. And Locke was heading to Australia when Randy was picking on him at the Box company. I think the timeline is a bit screwed up here, but maybe there is a piece of information we're still missing. I guess the detail is so minute, that no one will really care if it's a mistake. (I'm probably the only one that noticed!)

Looks like Hurley's buddy Johnny (skinny guy from Road Trip) ran off with his girlfriend (the one he asked out in the Music Store) after winning the lottery. Just some additional info there.

Hurley apparently hired the cooks from Bennigans as his butlers. I thought this was fantastic!

The Golden Jesus for Mom was a nice touch.

Mom having "needs" was a bit too MUCH! But funny regardless!

And speaking of that Chicken Shack blowing up. That was pretty crazy eh? We had heard about this in season 1's Hurley Flashback episode when we were finding out all of the bad luck he has been encountering. Now, we got to see it. And we got to hear him mix up Meteors and Asteroids again. But this just reinforces that there is CLEARLY some bad luck or a higher power that Hurley is encountering. Will we ever found out HOW this bad stuff is happening? Who knows? But it definitely adds to the mystery of the show!

The bit with the psychic was hysterical. I'll admit, I kinda saw where it was going but having Hurley name the right price and the psychic caving was fantastic.

And the overall theme of the flashback was to "Make your Own Luck" which inspires Hurley back on the island to try and "finally win one"

Hurley and the NEW Adventures of ScoobyDoo (err Vincent!)

Well, I'm convinced after this episode that we need more episodes that put Hurley, Charlie, Sawyer, Jin, and even Vincent together! I mean, the comedy that ensued was fantastic. Maybe Sawyer was just going through withdraw on his name calling, but he was spatting them off like there was no tomorrow. The plot? Hurley wanted to get a VAN started because it would be fun...and life on the island has been anything but fun recently (harkens back to the good ol' days when Hurley created the golf course). Here's some comedy, and some other tidbits that came out of the whole thing:

Vincent has returned!

Okay, I can't even save the best for last. The nicknames? They were a wonderful thing.

Hurley, please define CRAFTY for Jin? "Crafty is like....when you're good at Crafts!"

Anyone else craving some old Dharma Beer? Everyone except maybe Hurley who suggested it had been there since before Rocky III or maybe even II! Oh, I could keep going, it was great!

All of the comedy around Roger the skeleton was just fantastic (i think i've used that word one too many times now!). Hurley being so nonchalant about it, Sawyer getting scared by the detached skull. Really, we needed this episode to feel good about LOST again!

Hurley slapping some sense (literally) into Charlie was a good time. And it got Charlie out of his "I'm going to die" funk. Was Hurley's logic correct though that if they defied death in the VAN PLUNGE that death is not out to get Charlie? And what did Desmond mean when he said "That's not how it works" in reference to telling Charlie when he's going to die? I guess he has to wait to get one of his crazy flashes of the future.

Not sure if this was intentional but when Hurley and Charlie were sliding down the hill in the Van they were heading straight to some BLACK ROCKS.

So the song playing in Hurley's flashback and also when the 8-track player started working in the Van was Three Dog Night's "Shambala" Now, I have too much of a life (debatable!) to look into what this song is about and if there are any ties to the meaning behind all of LOST. But if you really want to find out more about it...you can go to this wikipedia link right here.

Oh yeah, and we saw a new MAP! From the explanation on lost.cubit.net, it appears the DHARMA crew was looking to build a dirt road to the Swan station. And the Swan station is pretty detailed. You can click on the picture to enlarge or just go here for a larger picture

Plot Movement & Other Interesting Tidbits with the Castaways

As Kate and Sawyer were returning to the island she gave him one last chance to apologize for saying that Kate prefers Jack. Sawyer refuses. I guess we can determine from the "Welcome Back Sawyer" comment (instead of James has she had been calling him) that whatever happened on Alcatraz 2.0, STAYS on Alcatraz 2.0. In other words....Jack is fair game for Kate again! (Too bad Jack is cozying up with Juliet!)

Anyone remember why there was just a dart lying out in the jungle? Is anyone really intrigued to find out WHY it was there if we didn't already know about it? Yeah...I didn't think so!

The reunion of Kate and Sawyer with the castaways was a touching moment, wasn't it? Kinda got the sense that everything would be going back to "normal" on the island. Except with Sawyer hugging everyone? That was kinda a bit strange. But at least it was soon followed by normal SAWYER...not "Tortured by the others" Sawyer.

2 Weeks in a row with Musical Montages! This one features our Couples: Jin and Sun, Charlie and Claire, Sawyer and his Dharma Beer and Hurley and the Van. Sawyer is obviously drinking his sorrows away and already misses the company of Kate. (So obvious, I'm not even sure why I wrote it!)

I loved that the characters finally got each other up to speed (The braintrust of Locke, Sayid and Kate). Sometimes we're just meant to assume this happens. But I thought it served as a good reminder to even the audience of what was going on. A la...Michael and Walt have left the island (meaning we'll hear from them again eventually!), Eko's Death, Othersville, Karl. Was anyone else intrigued by Locke's fascination at the possibility that the others can get off the island? He is the one person that doesn't want to leave the island! Some people may see all of these details as space fillers and pointless, but I thought these "Catch Up" scenes were essential.

And that leads to our big PLOT movement at the end. I'm confused to if Sayid was sarcastically commenting on Locke's "Compass Bearing of NORTH" and the explanation that the way the sun reflected off of Eko's Stick gave him the bearing. But apparently this all led to the explanation of why they haven't gone to look for Kate, Jack and Sawyer.

I think we could've guessed that Kate would turn to Rousseau at the end of this episode once she said she was going to recruit help (if not Locke and Sayid, then who else could really help her?). Finally, someone remembers that Alex is the name of Rousseau's daughter and they TOLD her! Now, we may get to see whose side Danielle is on and if she DID know Ben before firing an arrow into his chest. But for now, the wheels are in motion to rescue Jack and Alex!

And that's that. As stated, I thought this episode was a much needed hour of comic relief with enough plot movement at the end to not make the episode totally pointless. As we should know by now, LOST moves at a slower pace than other shows to develop characters. If you are too frustrated with the snail's pace, then maybe waiting for DVD is the route for you! For me? I think 7 days between episodes is a short enough wait time now!

So next week is the big OTHERS episode. We get to meet Eye-Patch Man, maybe learn a little (or a lot) about the others and their connection to DHARMA. And of course we're going to start trying to rescue Jack! This is straight from the producers and not ABC, so I'm sure we can hold some weight in the words. But keep your expectations LOW because you'll only end up disappointed if you don't!

Hope you enjoyed the blog. Thanks to the NEW commenters for sharing your thoughts last week. Please keep it up. One day, my dream is that people will actually converse back and forth about the show in the comments! Ahhh and what a hopeless dream it is! Did I miss any of the good comedy from last night? Please share and see you next week!